V

V is one of the main protagonists and the third playable character introduced in Devil May Cry 5. A human with demonic ties, V presents himself as Dante's new client to put him on the trail of Urizen and takes Nero as backup insurance. It's revealed later that V is, in fact, the human half of Vergil's soul: the embodiment of his remorse and wisdom.

Development
According to Hideaki Itsuno, new characters like V and Nico were the first designs they came up with in the early phase of the game's development. Feeling that DMC5 needed a new protagonist that was completely different from Dante and Nero, Itsuno wanted V to have a very different gameplay style that made players attack and defend separately, and experience a whole new gaming style. V's playstyle and how he fights was thought out before any other detail of the character. Itsuno acknowledged that V seems to be a "complex" character to players, but his style makes him a powerful character overall.

Itsuno stated in an interview that V caused the most trouble when creating Devil May Cry 5. There were times where the developers kept wondering if adding V was really necessary due to how difficult it was to develop him.

When creating V's character and story, it was a conscious decision to make sure that V didn't necessarily have a specific relation to Dante and Nero. V's character was based on the game's setting, and the staff was satisfied in how V's inclusion achieved a balance with Dante and Nero. V's character was made to complicated and flawed, as he is a "representation of humans with both good and bad intentions."

In the early stages of V's conception, V was initially planned to be a character named "Gilver", based off of Vergil's disguise in Devil May Cry novel or someone with a similar design based on him, but the staff felt "Gilver" wouldn't work in the game's story and the idea was scrapped. Tatsuya Yoshikawa struggled designing V, who was to be a weak human character, since he was used to drawing characters that looked strong and cool. Many of the early concepts made V look too strong until Yoshikawa started drawing V in a way that conveyed his physical weakness.

V has various character designs, including a female design by Daigo Ikeno, called "Angelo" and she was set to be Nero's younger sister, but similar to V, as the human part of Vergil, although Ikeno claims this is his personal imagination, because V is set to be a male from early development.

Appearance
V is a tall, slender young man with pale skin and dark green eyes. He has chin-length, natural white hair with long bangs swept to left, which sometimes obscures his eye, but his pact with his demons turns his hair jet-black and covers his entire upper body and his neck in black tattoos.

V wears a long, open sleeveless leather coat with the sides tied together by strings, inside pockets, and a sewn-in, corset-like vest in the front. He also wears black pants with a silver chain made up of skulls on the right side of his belt and a fingerless glove on his right hand. V sports many accessories, including a tooth pendant around his neck, silver ring on his left middle finger, and a spiked bracelet that crisscross around his left wrist. Unlike most characters in the series, V wears black sandals instead of boots. V carries a silver metal cane, which serves as a weapon and a tool for support since his slowly decaying body making it hard for him to move, and a brown, gold-embroidered book, containing poems by William Blake, with a large "V" insignia in the cover.

When he was separated with Vergil by stabbing himself with Yamato, he was naked and covered in a purple haze as his entire upper body and his neck in black tattoos were quickly formed.

In the second half of the game, V's debilitating condition caused his skin to become flaky and cracks to gradually form on his skin, showing that he was literally falling apart.

Personality
In contrast to the more flamboyant Dante and hot-headed Nero, V is a quiet, calm, and aloof individual. While V is generally polite to everyone he meets, V is a man shrouded in mystery and does not speak more than necessary, which caused Nero and the others to question if they can trust him. Due to being the physical manifestation of Vergil's humanity, V possess all of Vergil's knowledge of the Demon World and often reveals that he knows things that no human should have knowledge of, but does not explain how he attained such information, which only makes others more suspicious of him. Due to his odd appearance, behavior, and abilities, many people often found V to be unsettling and have often questioned if V really is a normal human despite his frail look.

A distinctive trait of V is his extreme fondness for poetry, as he often recites lines when speaking to people or even enemies, and often by memory alone, to the point where Griffon calls him "Shakespeare" at one point of the game. V greatly treasured his book of poems, as his original self, Vergil, possessed it since he was a young boy. Although the most serious of the three protagonists, V has a dry sense of humor and is not above jokes or finding antics around him amusing. While first introducing himself to Dante quoting Infant Joy, V was being cheekily literal with Dante, as Vergil used Yamato to split himself on May 1 and V met Dante on May 3; therefore, he has been alive for about two days.

Being the humanity that Vergil repressed and disdained, V is more in touch with his emotions and is introspective. V often reflects over his "past self", such as remembering how prideful Vergil was in the past and was the type to be irritated at being called a "dead weight". Despite acknowledging himself to be a part of Vergil, V also seemed to disassociate himself from Vergil and deemed him to be full of "delusions" while expressing a deal of regret towards Vergil's actions. Unlike Vergil, who looks down on humans, V has been shown to respect humans and believes that their tenacity to never give up is their best quality.

As he is aware of his limits and capabilities, V has demonstrated to be pragmatic and cautious in how he approaches situations. While confident in his abilities, V is able to tell when a fight with certain demons would be too much for him to handle and would walk away from it or leave it someone else to deal with. While V is willing to do morally questionable things and even outright lie and manipulate his allies, V possessed a genuine desire to save the world from Urizen and help humanity, even at the cost of his own debilitating health.

While V is his own being independent of Vergil, the latter's memories occasionally affect how V acts from time to time. Upon seeing Proto Angelo and Scudo Angelo, V's collected demeanor cracked and became enraged at the sight of them due to Vergil's horrible time as Nelo Angelo. While V was mostly affable towards Dante, V expressed resentment and hatred towards Dante when he was unconscious, thus echoing Vergil's issues with his brother. Before re-merging with Urizen, V also revealed that Vergil's intense desire of power strongly lingers in him. In V's idle animation, V even runs his hand through his hair, in a way similar to Vergil's habit of slicking back his hair.

Biography
After being freed from Mundus' control, Vergil was able to escape the Demon World, but his body was weakened and was crumbling from going through battle after battle. After tearing off Nero's Devil Bringer in order to regain Yamato, Vergil then returned to his family's burned mansion in Red Grave City. Fueled by his desire to defeat his twin brother Dante and for power without having to be hindered by human thought or emotion, Vergil stabbed himself with Yamato to separate his human half from his demon half, sparking the birth of "V" and "Urizen". Just seconds after his birth, V was able to retain consciousness and witnessed the horrifying formation of Urizen. In addition to being humanly weak, V was also left with four physical manifestations of Vergil's trauma from his time as Nelo Angelo, taking the forms based of Mundus's minions -, , , Phantom.

V's separation from his original self doomed him with a slowly decaying body, which was barely kept together with the lingering remnants of Vergil's demonic power. Knowing that Urizen plans to gain power from the Qliphoth tree, V vowed to stop the large-scale destruction and hopefully remerge with Urizen before his body completely crumbles.

Devil May Cry 5 – Visions of V –
Soon after V's birth, he watched in intense fear of Urizen's manifestation and tried to crawl away, taking note of his frail body and failed trying to strengthen it with demonic power. While fully aware that he will die soon, V admits to himself that he didn't want to die as he found Vergil's book of poems on the floor, causing him to remember Vergil's happy childhood with Dante. Hearing V's thoughts, Griffon swept V off the ground and took him outside, dropping him roughly on a pile of garbage and telling V to make a contract with him. Griffon half-jokingly pitched and explained how a contract works to V, but V grew annoyed at Griffon's yapping and shuts his beak. V demanded that Griffon explain himself, who revealed to V that he is the discarded memories of Vergil's time with Mundus that were cut off with Yamato. Griffon explained to V that he will disappear without a host, which was V's part of the contract to fulfill. Since V's body also decaying and he can't return to being Vergil without the power to defeat the demon half, Griffon stated that the two of them have to work together or they will die.

V and Griffon halt their conversation to go into the city and stumbles into a deserted alleyway where they found a young punk mugging an old man. While the punk focused his attention on V, Griffon attacks the punk from behind and knocks him unconscious, allowing V to steal the punk's clothes. As V gets dressed, Griffon restarted their conversation, though V questions why would he need Griffon, angering him since he has been helping V to move around and get him clothes. However, V clarified that he was planning on "using" Griffon and voiced his skepticism of his abilities. While exasperated by V's demeanor, Griffon agreed to prove himself to V, who told him to kill the Empusa that had manifested in the alley. V then watched with an impassive expression as Griffon easily killed the Empusa with a lighting attack, boasting to V if he still thinks that he doesn't need him.

V wondered if the Empusa's appearance in the city is because of Urizen, to which Griffon confirmed and then stated that Red Grave City will likely be infested with demons soon since Urizen is very powerful and has the Yamato. While Griffon chides V for acting arrogant when he can't even protect himself, V picked up Vergil's poetry book and stuffed it into Griffon's mouth just to silence him. While V dislikes the thought of teaming up with Griffon, he agreed to work together with him because he doesn't want to die. As the two bicker with one another, the Empusa rose up from the ground and attacked the duo, much to Griffon's shock. Griffon dodges the Empusa and lifts V in the air, questioning why his lightning didn't kill it, to which V's response was that Griffon was not strong enough. When striking it again failed, Griffon suddenly runs out of demonic power, causing his form to become unstable and dropping the both of them back on the ground, Since Griffon was unable to fight, V breaks into a nearby antique store to hide while dragging Griffon inside with him. The Empusa attacked V, pining him down, but Griffon draws its attention. V then reflected on how frustrating it is to be weak and decided to fight too, breaking a glass case to retrieve a cane in the process, and stabbed the Empusa from behind.

After going through a great effort, V was able to successfully kill the Empusa, then he collapsed on a nearby couch from exhaustion. While wiping off the demon blood, V wondered why he was able to kill the demon even though Griffon's attack was able to hurt it. V then speculated that it was because of the cane, even though it did not look like a Devil Arm. Griffon explained to V that it is not the cane, but V himself. Griffon deduced that because he is a essentially "dream" without any substance, it is impossible for him to kill anything, but V can and must be the one to deliver the killing blow after he weakens any upcoming groups of enemies in the future. Since it took a lot of effort just to beat a low-level demon, V was doubtful that he could even defeat Urizen in his current state, but Griffon assured V that he shouldn't be ashamed since the both of them are "pathetic" in their own way. When Griffon's form begins to melt on the floor and tells V to make a choice quickly, V reluctantly accepted the fact that he needed Griffon and placed his hand on Griffon's melted form to begin the contract. As Griffon's form wrapped around V's body, Griffon apologized to V for his earlier attitude and then promised to not make fun of him anymore, which V amusingly remarked that he was going to pluck Griffon if he continued to make digs at him. With the contract completed, V gained tattoos on his upper chest and arms while Griffon regained his proper form.

Sometime later, V was plagued by a memory of Vergil's time being tortured by Mundus, but was able to snap out of it, though Griffon poked fun at his pale expression. V was then informed by Griffon that another physical manifestation of Vergil's memories was nearby and urged V to find them before they disappeared. However, V found the task troublesome and was reluctant to find more "annoyances", but Griffon pointed that they urgently need more allies. Griffon explained to V that three more beings took physical form after Vergil cast them out. Although some will likely be aggressive, Griffon believed that some of them would be willing to form a contract with V since they wouldn't want to die. When V asked if they refused to help, Griffon said that they would have to use force to tame them. V spotted a dark human-shape figure in the street, causing Griffon to hide behind V and try to get him to get rid of the person. The figure suddenly morphed its body and attacks them with a large spike, but V was able to block it with his cane. When the figure turned out to be Shadow (another manifestation of Vergil's memories), V questioned Griffon how are they supposed to communicate with Shadow since he couldn't speak human language.

As Shadow charged at V, he suddenly snatched V's cane and ran away, leaving V confused. Griffon speculated that Shadow might think that the cane could lead him to the Demon World since it smelled like it, but V stated that, according to Griffon, the cane wasn't a Devil Arm. Griffon then clarified his previous statement by saying that the cane was most likely to have been accidentally made with materials from the Demon World, comparing the cane to V since they were both mostly normal things with a little demonic energy, which V didn't appreciate. Using Griffon to fly, V tried to track Shadow for a little while, but had to land in an alley after Griffon reached his limit. They noticed the alley was covered in bugs and noticed Shadow laying on the ground, on verge of vanishing. Before V could help Shadow, a giant, speaking Phantom appeared in front of them and threaten to eat V and Griffon for trying to take his prey.

Picking up his cane, V quips to Phantom that Shadow was their "prey" first as Griffon explained to V that Shadow was in his core state and his normal form should return soon since he not completely out of energy yet. However, Griffon advise V that they should deal with Phantom before handling Shadow. Phantom recognizes V and Griffon, calling the former their "host", since Phantom was a part of Vergil too. V stood silent as Griffon tried to get Phantom to make a contract with him, but the arrogant Phantom hauntingly proclaimed that he will never serve a weakling like V, disparaging V with insults, and stated he would rather die than live bounded by him. Angry at Phantom's insults, V provokes Phantom, saying that he has no need for him, causing the demon to attack him. V and Griffon managed to dodge and hide behind a large rock, dragging Shadow's limp body with them. Griffon scolded V for provoking Phantom, but V nonchalantly commented that peaceful negotiation was a waste of time. Exasperated by situation, Griffon said they cannot handle Phantom and Shadow at the same time, so V must forcefully tame Shadow. Before V could stab Shadow with his cane, Shadow regained consciousness, lashing out at V and clamping his jaw on V's cane. As Griffon attempted to calm Shadow down, V reflected over his interaction with Phantom and realize it's pointless to demand cooperation from Shadow. Letting go of his cane, V directly looked into Shadow's eyes and asked him to make a choice - die or struggle and live - and if Shadow choose to live, then he needs Shadow. Winning Shadow's cooperation, V had Shadow transformed into his appearance and lure Phantom close enough for them to attack him. When Phantom's core was exposed, V stabbed it with his cane, killing the demon spider. While Griffon pointed out that they lose a potential ally, V at least gained Shadow as a familiar. As a show of affection, Shadow pounced on V and licked his face, much to V's disgusted and Griffon's amusement.

After Shadow finished licking him, Shadow initiated the contract ritual with V and transformed into a semi-liquid state to warps around V's body, with Griffon explaining Shadow's actions to V. In a mental landscape, V connected with Shadow's mind and received another affectionate lick from the demon. As more tattoos appeared on his body, V experienced another memory of Vergil's time with Mundus, causing V to feel emotional and mental pain. V contemplated how much he hates reliving the memories and never wanted to see them again, but knew he needed more power to beat Urizen and must find a stronger familiar. Griffon remarked that V lost a major ally in Phantom, which was why V shouldn't had picked a fight with him, though he admitted that Phantom wouldn't cooperate with them even if V forcefully tamed him. Griffon warned V that all of them weren't very strong individually, so they must work as a team and V cannot be reckless. Ignoring Griffon's lecture, V stuffed his cane into his mouth and asked the demon bird if there was more powerful "nightmare" left he form a contract with. When Griffon's nervously confirmed that there was one more, V was curious about his behavior, but Griffon just told V to do what he tells him. Arriving to an abandoned church, V paid no attention to Griffon's persistent protests to leave this particular demon alone and entered the church. After stepping in some dark slime, V gazed in awe as the gigantic Nightmare manifested before him. While sweating in fear and a very scared Griffon pleading to him to run away, V was impressed by Nightmare and remained determine to have it as a familiar.

Griffon explained to V that the original Nightmare had the power to destroy the Demon World, did not have a will of its own, and it will only obey its master, stressing V was completely unable to communicate with the Nightmare made from Vergil's memories. With Nightmare blocking the door, V and Griffon cannot run away. When Griffon questioned V if he had a plan, V told him that he wanted to gauge Nightmare's power and sends Shadow to attack. Before Shadow could land a blow, Nightmare quickly impale Shadow, leaving him in his core form, much to V's surprised. As Nightmare prepares to fire its laser beam, V quietly stared in amazement as Griffon panicked. While V was able to barely dodged the laser, Griffon takes a direct hit and reverts to his core form, leaving V without any form of protection. Seeing how powerful Nightmare was, V admitted that confronting Nightmare was a mistake. Using its sludge-like tendrils, Nightmare captured V and engulfed him into its body. As V falls down a dark abyss, V had his cane taken away by Nightmare. V eventually landed in dark, watery area with a giant, cracked statute of Mundus in front of him. V then saw Vergil wearing Nelo Angelo's armor emerging from the ground and grabbing onto V, causing V to realized that appearance of Nelo Angelo and everything else around him was just a "worthless dream".

When Nelo Angelo grabbed V by the neck, V tried to banish it away since he knew its an illusion, but it didn't work. When Nelo Angelo placed his hand on V's head, V was shown memories of Mundus, Trish, and other moments from Vergil's time as Nelo Angelo. Disturbed by these memories, V didn't have time to process these memories due to an illusion of Dante manifested and shoot Nelo Angelo in the head, which greatly surprised him. When the area started to dissolve, V fell deeper into the mental abyss and met with Nightmare's consciousness, which as took the form of a giant eye. Realizing everything he saw was Nightmare's doing, V questioned why Nightmare was showing him these illusions, believing that Nightmare was mocking him for his weakness and telling him that he, as Vergil, was inferior to Dante. With his hand upon Nightmare' eye, the area began breaking apart as Nightmare's body in the real world began to emanate light beams from the inside. Plunging his hand into Nightmare's core, V initiated the contract ritual with Nightmare, causing its body to crumbled in the real world and released V from its slime. As V held its core, Nightmare submitted to V and started assimilating onto V's body, dying V's hair black as V stood victorious over gaining Nightmare's allegiance.

Devil May Cry 5: Before the Nightmare
Knowing Urizen's resurrection is nearing, V goes to Grue's Celler to find J.D. Morrison in order to get into contact with Dante. Before entering the bar, V assaulted a random man with Griffon in order to obtain money to pay for Dante's services. Upon meeting Morrison, V asked him to take him to Dante and hands him the bloodstained money. Although wary of V and Griffon, Morrison accepts the payment, especially due to wanting V and Griffon not hurting more people just to collect more cash and takes them to. At the shop, V introduces himself to Dante and explains that he wants him to stop a powerful demon that is about to be resurrected in Red Grave City. While Dante is confident that V's job would be easy, V claims to Dante that this demon is much different from the others he fought before because the demon is Dante's "reason for fighting" - his brother Vergil.

Morrison provided a helicopter to take V and Dante to Red Grave City. V was also grateful for Morrison recruiting Trish and Lady. Upon arriving inside Qliphoth tree, V hopes to attack Urizen before he is fully resurrected, but realized that Urizen had awakened as they were traveling up the tree. Believing V to "dead weight", Dante ordered V to leave, which he complied with, much to Griffon's shock. Unsure of the chances of his allies in defeating Urizen, V wants to get Nero as "insurance", despite knowing Nero's Devil Bringer arm was recently ripped off and Griffon's own protests. Using the helicopter, V quickly arrived at Fortuna and found Nero at the hospital just as he awoke from his coma. After introducing himself, V explained to Nero that it was Urizen that stole his arm and he hired Dante to subdue him. V asked Nero to join them and goads him by pointing out Nero's wounded pride. Although Nero was suspicious of V, Nero agreed to help him to get his arm back.

After getting Nero's gear, V and Nero return to the Qliphoth tree and spotted Dante fighting Urizen from a distance. V warned Nero not to underestimate Urizen since he gained a lot of power after taking Nero's Devil Bringer. V went ahead of Nero, using Shadow's ability to carry himself since moving was becoming more difficult for V due to his decaying body. V and his familiars dealt with demons coming from the tree to make things easier for Nero. Once Nero caught up with them, V told him to go ahead and leave the other demons to him. When V and Griffon arrived at Urizen's throne room, V saw Nero and Dante struggling to beat Urizen as the ground began shaking. Dante yelled for them to run while he holds Urizen off, though V had to drag a stubborn Nero out the cavern, who insisted on staying and help. When debris blocked the path to Urizen, the two met up with Morrison and told him what happened as tentacles started sprouted from the group and attacking people. While Nero wanted to fight, V demanded he retreats and revealed that the world will end after a month. V encouraged Morrison not to lose hope and Nero to get stronger since he is the only person that can defeat Urizen besides Dante. V and Nero agreed to meet up again in a month, with Nero returning to Fortuna to train. V choose to stay in Red Grave City, lying to Nero that he will be collecting information in the meantime.

As the days passed, V observed the Qliphoth tree growing bigger as it sucks more human blood. Griffon then suggested that V should evacuate the city to slow Qliphoth's growth, but V rejected the idea because he didn't believe anyone would listen to him and he did not have the authority or time to organize a city-wide evacuation. While V tried his best within his capabilities, he felt great regret about not being able to do more. When Griffon questioned if Nero will return, V commented that Nero isn't the type to accept a "losing streak", causing an amused Griffon to quip about it where Nero's inherited that attitude from. V contemplated over his beloved book of poems, which echos the Qliphoth's nature. V bitterly recalled his former self's delusions and how he lied to Nero since he already knew everything about Urizen. Although he wanted to avoid too much movement since his body was eroding, V resolved to help the humans and to minimize the damage as much as possible until Nero returns.

Devil May Cry 5
Once a month had passed, V called Nero to set a meeting place so they plan their next move. V arrived to their rendezvous point just as Nero was finishing battling Goliath. V uses Shadow on the weakened Goliath and dealt the final blow before Nero could kill him. After bantering a little bit, Nero asked if he knows if Dante was still alive at the Qliphoth tree. V calmly stated that if Dante was still up there then he would likely be Qliphoth pollen by now and explained what the Qliphoth does to Nero. While Nero wants to go straight to the tree to save Dante, V stopped him and informed that they must take care of the Qliphoth roots first. When Nico arrived in the Devil May Cry RV, V meets her for the first time and went inside to plan their next move. V and Nero agreed to split up to cover more ground and meet up with each other at the base of the Qliphoth tree. V then silently watched in amusement as Nico bickered with Nero and Griffon before taking his leave.

On the streets, Griffon questioned V if he believed Nero could defeat Urizen, but V stated that they can only hope that Nero could. A swarm of Empusa soon appeared before V and his familiars, with Shadow ready to fight and Griffon wanting V to run away due his frail condition. However, V chooses to fight and destroy as many Qliphoth roots as he could. Eventually, V encountered Nidhogg and quickly dealt with him. Soon after, V noticed the gigantic and decided to leave it alone, knowing that it was beyond his current capabilities. However, Gilgamesh spotted V and attacked him, plunging him into the city's underground tunnels. As V destroyed more Qliphoth roots on his way out, V attacked Gilgamesh's legs that were protruding from the ceiling above. V briefly bumped into Nero, who was fighting Gilgamesh topside, and told him that he'll leave Nero to deal with Gilgamesh. Upon returning to the surface, V spied on Cavaliere Angelo being ordered by Malphas, who is the second-in-command of Urizen, to find Sparda's sword and destroy it. After Malphas left, V confronted Cavaliere Angelo, expressing recognition of it and mockingly promised to be "gentle" with it. While V was able to kill the Elder Geryon Knight that Cavaliere Angelo rode on, Cavaliere Angelo escaped from V due to tiring himself out. V soon wished to find the Sparda Devil Arm to raise their chances of beating Urizen. When Griffon pointed out that V was not strong enough to wield the sword, V stated that Nero might be able to do it. Noticing a fragment of Elder Geryon Knight on the ground, V picked it up and returned to the RV.

V entered the RV just as Lady, who was rescued earlier by Nero, were telling the others what happened after V and Nero left the tree a month ago. V politely greeted Lady and handed Nico the demon fragment to make a new Devil Breaker for Nero. Since the road to the Qliphoth tree was blocked by debris, V and Nero decided to travel the rest of the way on foot. While they went on different underground paths, V and Nero met again on the surface and were confronted by a Proto Angelo and small army of Scudo Angelos. Recalling Vergil's time as Nelo Angelo, V grew angry at the sight of the Angelos and proceeded to battle them alongside Nero on their moving battlefield. V and Nero finished the fight before their platform went over a cliff, landing in an area that V recognized to be where Vergil and Dante's old family home resided. V nostalgically and cryptically shared his childhood memories to Nero before stating that they must part ways because V wanted to find the Sparda sword. While Nero warned V that the sword would be too much for V to handle, V shrugged it off and said that they need all the help they can get, much to Nero's puzzlement.

V sent Griffon to scout the area and, upon hearing his reports of nearby demons "dancing", figured that the Sparda sword was nearby. After fighting off a Behemoth and other lesser demons, V sensed the sword's presence and was led to a group of Nobodys worshiping it, which V mocked them for. After dealing with them, V retrieved the sword and tried to lift it, only to fail. While Griffon playfully teased him, V believed that Nero was the only one left that could wield it just as Shadow alerted V to a fortunate find - a comatose Dante, whose presence had been concealed by the sword. While initially relieved to see Dante, V was overcome with rage and attempted to stab Dante with Sparda, ignoring Griffon's pleas to snap out of his trance. However, V only attempted to stab Sparda near Dante's head, which was able to shock Dante's instincts enough to wake up him from his coma.

When Dante remarked that he believed that V was going to stab him, V explained that stabbing or at least attempting to stab him was the only way to wake him up since Dante could be "stubborn". V updated Dante on the fact that he's been in a coma for a month and Nero was on his way to fight Urizen again even as they speak. Dante demanded that V leave Nero out of their mission, but V retorted that if Dante could beat Urizen alone, then he would never have to use Nero. V lamented how Nero was useless during their first attempt at Urizen, but Dante cut him off and started to leave. V tried to stop Dante, but fell to the ground and noticed that his body was starting to deteriorate. Although it became harder to move his body, V rushed after Dante and eventually caught up to him, but Dante quickly departed and left him with a unconsciousness Trish to take care of. V sent Griffon to follow Dante while he stayed behind to look after Trish and read his book until she woke up. When Trish began asking questions about Urizen's origins and V's identity, V explained to Trish about his birth and the truth of Urizen. V told Trish that he seeks to right Vergil's mistakes and asked her if he was foolish for thinking Dante could help him atone, seemingly looking to Trish for maternal assurance due to her resemblance to Eva. However, Trish does not answer his question and told him that he had a duty to see Dante's war through to the end.

V and Trish traveled to the Qliphoth tree, but when the ground began rising due to the Qliphoth completing its emergence in the Human World, V nearly fell off a cliff if it weren't for Trish grabbing his hand. At the base of the Qliphoth, V and Trish reunited with Dante and their other allies. V explained to Dante that Urizen was at the top of the tree and insisted that he allow Nero to join them since they are running out of time. However, Dante decreed that all three of them should go their separate ways and left before V or Nero could interject. V fights his way through the tree and briefly encountered Dante and Nero on the way, only for them to get separated after the ground collapsed. V had Griffon slow his descent and carried him for a short time before he exhausted himself.

Although his body continued to slowly crumble and movement became more difficult, V was grimly determined to go Urizen's location. V came across a area with strange rocks, which deprived him of his familiars and rendered him unconscious, and was ambushed by Malphas's illusions. Malphas threw V into pocket planes of the Demon World, which he surprisingly discovered was healing his body. V was forced to recovered his familiars one by one and battle against mirages of Goliath, Artemis, and Cavaliere Angelo. Upon exiting the pocket plane, V soon found Malphas again, but he acknowledged that he didn't have the strength to fight her. As he tried to figure out a way past her, he accidentally alerted Malphas of his presence and shrunk back in fear, but was saved by Nero's timely arrival. While Nero battled her, V tossed Nero some Devil Breakers he was holding on to so he can have a better chance in fighting against Malphas. After defeating the demon, V thanked Nero for his help and tried to proceed onward to Urizen's location. Seeing how V's body was badly deteriorating, Nero told to get him some rest, but V begged Nero to take him to Urizen as his last request, which he reluctantly agreed to. As they made their way onward, V revealed to Nero that Urizen was really Dante's older brother Vergil, much to Nero's shock. When Nero questioned why the brothers would fight, V explained that it was because they disagreed on their reason for existing and fought each other to adhered their own beliefs, though Nero found it all ridiculous.

In the aftermath of Dante's victory against Urizen, V and Nero arrived to the scene and V finally decided to serve his own purpose to confront Urizen in his weakened state. While Dante warned him to get away, V told him that he wanted to finish the fight with his own hands. Climbing on top of Urizen's chest, V advised Urizen not to struggle since he already lost, who only proclaimed his desire to have more power. V stated that even though he and Urizen had lost each other, they are connected by that one feeling. As he began reciting William Blake's "Love & Harmony" poem (relating to the relationship between V and Urizen), V stabbed Urizen with his cane before Dante could stop him. As a result, both V and Urizen became engulfed inside a blue light as they both merged back into one person - Vergil.

After Dante's brief clash with Vergil, V was mentioned by Nero when he inquired what happened to V, to which Dante informed him that V had reunited with Urizen and turned back into Vergil, and during the final battle between both Nero and Vergil as father and son. In the aftermath of the entire incident, the only things V left behind was his familiars, who chose not to merge with Vergil and died fighting against Dante's hands; his cane, which his familiars used as a focal point for Nightmare; and V's book of poems, which ended up in Nero's possession.

Powers
V uses his unique cane in battle only to perform singularly strong strike to finish off enemies who have sustained enough damage. According to Nico, his cane is forged with a metal ideal for channeling demonic energy, allowing V to use magic, such as a spell called "Royal Fork" where he summons several copies of his cane and rains them down on enemies, as well teleport to enemies using his cane as beacon in a flash of blue energy. V can proceed to strike the target down with his cane as well as perform a double jump upon stepping on an enemy. Upon finishing demons off, V seems to use his cane to absorb the power of defeated demons, enhancing the strengths of his familiars with it. Finally, V can also enter a state similar to Devil Trigger, which causes the black ink in his hair to disappear, revealing his natural white hair, and allows him to augment his familiars as well as summon Nightmare.

As he is the human half of Vergil, V only has a comparatively minuscule demonic energy, making him mostly human with a crumbling body supported only by the demonic power he had left; though he seems to replenish his energy by defeating demons, it would eventually fail to sustain him unless V uses his cane to re-merge with Urizen.

Similar to Nero's moveset, which are named after gambling and casino terms, most of V's moves are named after chess terms.

After beating Bloody Palace, V learns taunt that allows him to cover his cane with magic, which increases the power of his attacks and allows him to hurt and defeat demons on his own.

Familiars
V has the ability to summon familiars with demonic powers, formed as physical manifestations of Vergil's trauma from his time as Nelo Angelo, taking the form of Mundus's demon minions which he had authority over. When not called upon, the demons appear as tattoos on V's body and as ink in his hair, turning it from white to black. When they are summoned, the corresponding tattoo to each demon disappears and in case of Nightmare, his hair turns back to its original color. Due to their nature, V described his demons' abilities to be "dream-like" since they are only able to inflict pain, yet unable to kill. Although he can direct them, V can also make them fight automatically. The demon familiars revert to their core state upon taking too much damage and require some time to regenerare before they can be resummoned. V can increase the speed of their return by standing close to them.

Griffon can summon pillars of thunder strikes and fire an electric blast as well as launch enemies into the air. He is also able to lift V across the air when needed. Griffon is the only one that knows human language and acts as the interpreter for Shadow and Nightmare so others can understand them..

Through Shadow, V can also move at faster speeds than normal. V can also ride on Shadow as a form of transport.

When summoned, Nightmare may crash onto the battlefield like a meteorite, or burst through parts of the environment to heed the call. Its sluggish movements belie unsurpassable strength and nigh-invulnerability. Wherever Nightmare appears, its massive fists or brutal laser beams are the last thing enemies ever see. In his normal size, Nightmare is 3.5 meters tall, but is capable growing even larger. V is also capable of controlling Nightmare directly by climbing atop it and piercing it with his cane to kill off enemies.

File

 * Devil May Cry 5 promo site
 * V, The Mysterious One
 * Book and cane in hand, this slender man appears covered in impressive tattoos. Before chaos fell upon Red Grave City, he sought out Dante through the information broker Morrison and tasked him to subdue a certain demon. V lacks the power to fight himself, instead relying on three demon familiars to take the offensive in battle.


 * Nico's Character Report - V
 * Lot of mystery about this one. Call me paranoid, but "V" just miiiight be a fake name.


 * Still, he calls himself a Devil Hunter, and he's got the power to prove it—or his demon animal friends do, at least. All V can do is deliver the final blow with that cane of his...which I'd like to take a better look at if I get the chance.


 * Seems the pattern in those tattoos of his is what binds his lil' helpers to him. They're the basis of his power.


 * Speaking of...that ain't the kind of power that a plain ol' human could wield...


 * Dying V
 * Our pal V is not in peak physical condition. Seems what little demonic power he has is all that's keeping him together. If that power dries up, it'll be a little difficult for him to maintain his human form.


 * Of course, that ain't a problem for normal humans or demons. V's keeping secrets—and whatever they are, they gotta be connected to his current condition.


 * Documents - Old Man's Diary

Gameplay
In terms of combat, V uses his cane and book with the letter "V" on it as weapons. Most of the actual fighting is handled by three demons V can summon. Due to his unique gameplay style, V described to be a "tricky" and strategic character to use in battle. When playing as V, takes more damage than Dante and Nero and less knockback resistance as well as slower movement speed, so maintaining a distance is key while his familiars are fighting and as long V doesn't take damage, the battle can continue. When quickly evading or attempting to ride on Shadow or fly with Griffon, V must have his familiars close to him or call them back to his position.

V's demons have their own health bar and can be strengthened and learn new abilities over the course of the game. However, V's familiars cannot kill other demons and V must land the finishing blow. When enemies are close to death, they will start to stagger and turn white with a violet glow, signalling for V to finish them off with his cane. This is called Checkmate and requires V to be close to the enemy to strike them down. Note that attempting to attack an enemy normally with it does cause some damage but it is hardly worth it as the amount is puny and it would leave him stunned and open for attacks. In addition, V's cane can learn new abilities to increase the efficiency, with Gambit and Touch and Move being abilities that can allow V to cover distances and teleport to a dying enemy and finish them off as well as instantly teleport to the next enemy to strike them down as well. The most powerful ability available to the cane would be Royal Fork, which can kill off any dying enemy in close proximity.

The demons are manually directed by V, but Griffon and Shadow can fight automatically, but having them fight automatically will use up V's DT gauge. With Nightmare, summoning him consumes the DT gauge and it also decreases when Nightmare attacks. Due to Nightmare's slow movement, Nightmare essentially cannot transverse the ground very well and isn't ideal to use when surrounded by enemies when the DT gauge is low. Nightmare also fights automatically, but can be directly controlled by V when he climbs on his shoulder and pierces him with his cane. As long as Nightmare is controlled by V, V can kill enemies off using Nightmare. In very narrow spaces, Nightmare cannot fully emerge and will only stick out his head to fire his beams. Due to the many different summoning entrances when summoning Nightmare, secret passageways can be found when Nightmare burst through the environment.

V's demons use their own orientation relative to the camera rather than V's for command moves: for example, if the player wishes for Shadow to perform Arbiter and Shadow is facing towards the camera, the command will be left stick up rather than left stick down. As with all such inputs in DMC5, only the four cardinal directions (up, down, left, right) are used. The nearest one will trigger the desired move, with a significant overlap at 45-degree angles where both inputs will work.

If V takes too long to finish off enemies, the demons will regain partial health, forcing V to attack them again. The familiars can take damage and will revert to their core state after taking too much. In their core state, they cannot attack and cannot be summoned again for a certain amount of time. If Griffon and Shadow are in their core state, summoning Nightmare is a quick way to revive them. Another way to quickly revive the familiars from their core states is for V to stand close to them, the closer V is the faster the familiars can revive. However, it is vital to exercise caution when trying to close the distance as the remaining enemies will try to kill V, who cannot do anything against them without his demons.

In order to fill the DT gauge, V has to read his book and the closer V is to his opponents while reading, the faster the gauge will fill. However, V's movement will slow and leave him vulnerable to enemies.

Etymology
The letter "V" is the Roman numeral for the number "5", referencing V's appearance and importance in the fifth installment of the Devil May Cry series, Devil May Cry 5. Furthermore, the first words spoke by V in promotional material was "He who desires but acts not, breeds pestilence.", which is the fifth proverb from William Blake's "Proverbs of Hell." V is also the first letter of Vergil, the name of the man who he was once part of.

Shin Megami Tensei: Liberation Dx2
V appears in Shin Megami Tensei: Liberation Dx2 as part of the Devil May Cry 5 collaboration. V could have been acquired by players during the collab period and added to their party, he also makes an appearance during the story chapters of the collab, even acting as an enemy at one point. Both Shadow and Griffon again act as his main way of dealing damage to enemies, but Nightmare is not present.

Trivia

 * Due to his likeness, many fans made the comparison between V and actor Adam Driver, particularly Driver's role as Kylo Ren from the Star Wars franchise. However, the character of V was being developed before Star Wars: The Force Awakens had been released.
 * When completing the Bloody Palace as V, the player earns the "Special Provocation" move. This is a special taunt that makes V's Cane have a lightning effect to it and a special sound effect when he uses an attack, perhaps this move is a reference to the Lightsaber from the Star Wars franchise.
 * V's ability to control his Familiars is inspired from 1971 manga Babel II. Shadow - Rodem, Griffon - Ropross & Nightmare - Poseidon.
 * Some sentences said by V are quoted directly from William Blake poems, such as "He who desires but acts not, breeds pestilence." and "I curse my stars in bitter grief and woe, that made my love so high and me so low.".
 * Additionally, one of Nico's tattoos also quotes a William Blake poem titled "Eternity".
 * At the New York Comic-Con 2018, Itsuno also stated that V was actually his favorite character.
 * V's EX Costume that is a reference to Gilver, having a green color scheme and the patterns of Vergil's trench coat. "Gilver" is a disguise that Vergil donned in Devil May Cry novel.
 * Hideaki Itsuno, admitted in an interview that he is surprised by the warm reception V has received since his release, whom Itsuno thought would be "more divisive."